The new normal

The age of social-media-triggered personality-leadership to change public perception

The modern-day world is all about making, remaking and sensationalising impressions and images. The stronger the impression, the greater is its permanence and endurance. Repetitive actions or activities in the media create persistence of impressions upon human mind. Such impressions, when coupled with a celebrity or an important personality, instantly creates lasting immutability which gets promoted rapidly through social media and electronic channels. The productivity of any item is not based upon its quality instead it hinges upon how it is marketed through electronic sphere in aid of a social-media-acceptable individual for its promotion. This has become one of the pillars of the modern day warfare as well. Nowadays, personalities are created or recreated with a certain objective to channel strategic interests of a company or a corporation or a country in which social and electronic media is used excessively for creating impressionable public acceptance for its usage and endorsement.

Certainly the age of social-media-triggered personality-leadership or followership has now become an effective tool to change public perception about an incident or an important decision concerning the national interest of a country. Usually an event is created through electronic messages and social media endorsement which provides the basis for creating an environment to launch a product or an opinion or an idea among a targeted population within a country or a region across the globe. In the backdrop of such cyber-active situation, an individual is usually promoted on the basis of his or her ideas that aptly get wide-ranging recognition among different sections of society with e-publicity and social media boosting. Sometimes, a personality is honed and whetted in such a manner that he or she becomes a carrier of an idea or a message or an opinion which gains currency among the local population on account of particular comments registered by the personality repetitively on social media. Moreover, the sharing mechanism and viral phenomenon per se is an interesting feature by virtue of which an ordinary person gets recognition overnight through high number of following and liking on his or her comments or webpage as the case may be. This has really changed the dynamics of warfare in the current century and the physical aspect of war is giving way to intellectual targeting and brainwashing of audience so that they blindly follow a certain direction without making any reservations or objections. It has shifted the battlefield to digital space which is readily available to every individual irrespective of his or her education level, financial background, ethical pedestal, rational-based mental approach and physical appearance. The media companies are hunting for a suitable personality who carries with him or her certain aura which gets recognition within shortest possible span with a high number of ratings and following. Such an individual, once selected, becomes a product himself or herself thus losing a human or a physical component of his or her personality. Such an individual can then be easily used for selling someone’s ideas, opinions, notions or strategies for achievement of particular objectives and goals.

There are three important phases which need to be understood for designing an artificial environment of impact-oriented mechanism. First, views and opinions of a person are judged, calibrated and registered for discussion and debate. Once a favourable opinion is made about his or her ideas, work is progressed to further modulate his or her personality according to an organisation, to safeguard national interests or objectives. Second, such personality is promoted gradually through internet, social media, electronic channels and printing press so that maximum number of public knows about him or her views, ideas and actions. As a personality gains reputation among a certain sections of society and develops strong following, the real goals and objectives of an organisation or a corporation or a country come to the fore. Lastly, such a personality is then used and controlled for propagation and persistence of particular views and actions which create such impressions which map exactly the strategic objectives of a particular organisation or a corporation or a country. Such a warfare is so innocuous yet so deadly that it creates, recreates and ignites or reignites protests, demonstrations, rallies, sit-ins, public unrests, law and order situations leading to dissensions and internal disturbances within a country. Such warfare feeds upon ordinary issues and e-medium spins it in such a fashion or highlights certain aspects of these issues in such a way that it becomes negative or creates cynical and fatalistic feelings among the majority of population leading to chaos, confusion and commotion. Once such a situation sets in an organisation or a corporation or a country, the prime mover of such activity preys upon it and takes advantage of it to gain its ultimate objectives or reap maximal profits.

The art of controlling cyberspace and its access to countless individuals is the most important weapon in the arsenal of the modern-day warfare. If a corporation or a company or a country has the wherewithal to limit e-medium and restrict its usage then it gains the ability to regulate cognitive controlling environment in a particular area or a region. The contours of such control define the extent of monopoly of control over violence and information within a region by a corporation or a company or any other country having specific objectives relating to that particular area with inherent interests pegged on certain sensibilities and historical affiliations. This has become a new normal in the current era which might still be an abnormal practice in a developing or an underdeveloped country but it certainly reflects the approach of modern nations for maintaining control over Third World countries. In the next few years, this abnormal warfare will become a normal situation and innovative strategies may be developed to create a new abnormal in the world for future warfare.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2018.

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